


A Smile Not So Cold

by avacash



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Eventual Fluff, Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, FUCKING PENGUINS, Fluff, Fluff and Penguins, Gen, I Blame Tumblr, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Tried, I'm Sorry, One Shot, Penguins, penguini alfredo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-20 23:42:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1530101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avacash/pseuds/avacash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Immediate follow-up to the season 6 premiere- warning, spoilers, if you've not caught up yet- Jake is sad, Finn is lonely, Marceline is being a creeper again, and the Ice King shows a bit of Simon. And there are penguins, of course, and  fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Smile Not So Cold

Several weeks had passed since the incident in the Citadel. Since then, Finn and Jake had been holed up in the treehouse, waiting for everything to start making sense again. Both were worn and exhausted, their mouths unable to form anything but a look of simple languor, unable to manage a smile. Finn had stayed, waiting with BMO, when Jake left to perform a funeral service for Prismo. The ashes of the old man had disappeared, though, leaving nothing to bury. Thus, Jake simply buried the now empty pickle jar, and installed a tombstone above, inscribed with a few simple words-

"I'm always smiling when I'm around you."

Planting a few pretty pink and yellow tulips nearby, Shelby made a new home next to the stone, appreciating the beauty that had been Jake and Prismo's friendship. 

Depressed and anxiety ridden, Jake spent most of his time with Lady Rainicorn, huddled up on a couch, talking about nothing, and playing classical duets for viola. She was rather supportive throughout this period of angst, despite being slightly miffed at the notion that Jake had kept such a big part of his life a secret from her. 

Finn was alone, save for the company BMO could offer him. However, as Finn discovered quite quickly, it was rather difficult to play video games holding and using a controller with just one hand. It was equally difficult to handle a phone- not because of the lack of another hand, but for the lack of confidence Finn could possibly have under these circumstances. To call a princess and admit to them his new faults would be humiliating, and would only bring about pity.

After a few weeks, though, Finn finally built up the courage to call the one person he knew would be able to look at him the same way, without needing to try to "fix" him; Marceline. The vampire was flawed in her own ways, and openly embraced those flaws, just as she would embrace Finn's newfound flaws. On top of that, Finn knew that Marceline had had many issues with her father in the past, and could probably relate to his.

A minute passed, before Finn found that Marceline had been hiding in the closet for the past few hours. Waiting for an opportune moment to jump in, and confront Finn, Marceline snuck around behind him when he picked up the receiver to call her. Seeing his arm, Marceline recognized that it was not the time to scare and joke, but rather, a time to talk.

Describing in full detail the events that transpired at the Citadel, Finn felt the stub of his arm with his opposite hand, his voice cracking every so often. Listening intently, Marceline let silence sit in the air after he finished, waiting for him to make eye contact with her before proceeding, as he had avoided her gaze while narrating. When his eyes wandered up to hers, she ran a hand through her hair before speaking.

Recognizing his father as "a complete butt chicken", Marceline could easily relate to Finn's dilemma. Hunson Abadeer, though wanting the best for himself and his daughter, could not fathom how she liked to live her life, as he could only think for himself. Martin, on the other hand, had not even recognized Finn as his son, except when he needed to use the boy- and then, the man abandoned his child for the second time in his life.

A soft smile wandered onto Marceline's face, as she remembered the early years of her childhood, when her father had left her with her mother. The explosions, the war, the ashes, and the death surrounding Marcy and her mom- they were all too much for the poor woman, and she had died soon after the First Mushroom War began. Marceline, a little pale child in the middle of nothing but destruction and misery, was found by the man who would become the real father figure of her life, until her biological father showed up again- Simon Petrikov.

Though Simon's mental state had entered a rapid decline, he was still fully capable of caring for and protecting little Marcy. She was the new love in his life, after his fiancee had left, as Marceline became his child for the few years that they spent together. These few years forever changed Marceline, who considered Simon more of a father than Hunson could ever be- both loved her, of course, but Simon (in spite of his many flaws) clung to his sanity just to protect her.

After hearing Marceline speak about Simon, Finn saw watery tears begin to build up in her eyes, just barely enough to drip to an eyelash, but not enough yet to fall. A smile came to Finn's face, toothy, and for the first time in weeks, legitimately happy, as he realized what he had been missing; since losing his arm, he hadn't felt truly whole, in his body, or in his heart. He had lost the confidence in his stride, and he now knew how to get it back.

Marceline flew Finn to the Ice Kingdom, dropping him off near the entrance. Back at the house, BMO had acquired a fake arm, made of clay and candy, to put in Finn's sleeve. He wore it cautiously, recognizing that it would fall from his sleeve as soon as it was touched by the Ice King- which was exactly the plan. Marceline couldn't help but smile as Finn chuckled, anticipating the look on the Ice Kind's face when the arm clattered to the floor.

Entering gingerly, Finn nearly stepped on a penguin at the entrance. With a loud "WENK!" she ran off, causing a fuss among the other penguins. Finn laughed, watching them as they scuttled around the ice cave, looking for the Ice King. Floating in from nowhere, the Ice King saw Finn at the door, and held up his hands in frustration, loudly insisting that he had kidnapped no princesses- in the last week or so, anyways- and that the muffled noises of protest were that of a pigeon that had locked itself in the bathroom. 

Finn waited for the Ice King to approach him, before holding up the (fake) arm, with a smile on his face. Requesting the highest of fives, Finn grinned, as the Ice King took the chance immediately, and slapped the hand as hard as he could, sending the arm flying straight out of the exit, and off of the mountain. A muffled thud could be heard, as the arm hit the ground.

Shrieking with terror, the Ice King apologized with rapid speech, upset and confused, as Finn simply laughed, unable to sustain an appropriate poker face. Frustrated with Finn's apparent apathy towards his arm, the caring side of Simon showed for a minute, as he tenderly took Finn's stub of an arm, and rolled up the sleeve. Cautious and careful, Simon waved a hand, focusing on Finn's arm. 

Drawing water from the air, and watching as the water swirled around the daisy that had sprouted, Simon began to shape the water into the likeness of an arm. Delicately, the water attached itself to Finn's skin, wrapping itself around the daisy, preserving it, as the water froze, sculpted into the perfect shape of a human arm.

Through the arm of ice, Finn could see the distorted images of penguins, staring in awe, and the reflection of a genuine smile on the Ice King's face. Sparkling, the arm reflected the light, as if it was made of crystal. Creating dazzling images on the ice walls, the light danced, but a shadow fell, as Marceline lazily floated into the silent room. Seeing the new arm given to Finn by her adoptive father, the same small, crooked smile appeared on her tired face.

**Author's Note:**

> I know, it's really dumb, but I needed to make everything okay because Adventure Time makes me worry for humanity and my own sanity, okay? Okay.
> 
> -Ava


End file.
